Studies are proposed for the elucidation of the chemical nature of covalent bond formation between DNA and omega proteins, and the biological roles of such proteins. Studies on the ability of omega proteins to serve as transient swivels in DNA will be continued; the particular processes to be studied include the renaturation of complementary single-stranded rings, the seggregation of complementary strands in a convalently closed circle, and the formation of knotted rings. Physico-chemical studies on the binding of RNA polymerase to restriction fragments containing promoters will be pursued by ultracentrifugation, electron microscopy, DNA sequencing, and fast kinetics techniques. Studies on DNA synthesis on covalently closed double-stranded templates, using purified components, will be continued. The roles of several enzymes on DNA helix uncoiling and ring segregation will be investigated.